A Salty Night to Remember

  

   We drove through the night in shifts to get to St. Augustine, FL from Charleston, SC. At some points it was rather grueling (like when I had to drive), but mostly it was a dream come true (every moment I was not driving!). We caravanned with an amazing couple, following behind their gorgeous and extremely capable catamaran. I felt as though I knew these people by the end of the 32 hours we spent behind the Leap Of Faith (and I hope to get to know these people better in the future... as in, let's do it again, guys!).  We were anywhere between 30 and 50 miles off the coast, without Internet connection or phone service... which was all very foreign for people so used to being "connected."  Other than the intermittent radio interaction with the Leap of Faith, we were just two kids, three dogs (still have my parent's scallywag of a mutt), and a pissed off cat, traipsing through the great blue beyond.

The Leap of Faith, a 44' 2007 catamaran, fully loaded! She was one
of our favorite boats on St. John's Yacht Harbor, it was a privilege to
see her in action!

Told you she was a capable vessel! Check out those
 waves coming into St. Augustine!!  It was kind of fun!

  The Bridge of Lions coming into St. Augustine,
opening for us and our caravan catamaran, the Leap of Faith.

   While we were out on the wilds of the ocean, we both got to thinkin'... Jay pondered the other sailors who had traveled these waters before us; I let my mind wander to the depths below and the creatures lurking beneath us. Jay thought of the conquistadors and the explorers, while I considered the Kraken and the Megalodon.  All very profound and mostly sea worthy thoughts... but I prefer Jay's line of thinking!  Especially when I was out there, driving this monster of a boat, alone (or what felt like alone, as Jay was getting a few mo's of shut eye... not nearly enough might I add, he's a beast himself!  He's a great captain, truth be told, me hearties!), thinking of the beasties stalking us from below.... well, it was a freaky place to let the mind wander!  But wander it did!  I would see a splash in the inky night, the caribbean blue waters suddenly like black pillows for the soul, deep and dark... what is usually so bright and lovely becomes sinister in the pitch of night.  The splash would translate in my mind's eye to watered down disturbia, I would become jumpy and frightened.  Well, the only thing to be done was to change my mind's course just as I would do with me vessel.  I adjusted my heading, and thought of the rarity of the moment, the beauty of the dark of the night, and the serenity of the sea.  I found this ponderance much more to my liking!  I believe it to be a right of passage for a green captain to get spooked on his or her first nighttime ocean voyage, but it takes a captain worth his (or her) weight in salt to shake the spooks and get the job done!  I got the job done, folks.  Though, never will I pretend to be anything more than first mate, when Captain Jay handles Miss Betty with such aplomb.

   The night ride turned into our first sunrise while out to sea, and I believe us both to be hooked!

I was awakened by the captain in order to join him
for this most spectacular a view... I was not cross with
him for this request!


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And a sneak peak of the upcoming edition of Boating Off the Beaten Path~

Nothing says "Good Morning" like a pod of dolphins playing off our bow.